This is odd. On October 21st @ATTDeals tweeted out that the BlackBerry Bold 9900 is coming soon. Stay Tuned!. We reported it on Sunday, October 23rd. Now today CrackBerry member igotberryfevernoticed that the Bold 9900 tweet has been removed from the @ATTDeals twitter account. What's up with that?! Whatever it is... it doesn't seem positive.

In other related news, I heard from a source the other day who I haven't heard from in years (literally since the original Bold 9000 was delayed on AT&T and he kept me the loop) who provided some insight into the Bold 9900 on AT&T delays stating that RIM's NFC implementation is a sticking point to be blamed on the phone not yet being released...

One of the major reasons for the 9900 being delayed on AT&T is an ongoing debate between RIM and AT&T around the NFC implementation on the device. In the NFC world, the key component is the Secure Element (SE) and it holds the secure credentials (for e.g. the credit card number in case of NFC payments). The Issuer Security Domain controls the access to SE in terms of writing on to it. RIM is promoting a concept where they would hold the ISD, so RIM can roll out customized NFC services while AT&T wants ISD control on the devices that they roll out (this is in relation to the larger ISIS NFC payment project that they are a part of). I don't believe a satisfactory decision has been arrived at between the two parties and discussions are still ongoing at a very high level. AT&T wants to have a grip on NFC because they have some unique NFC projects in the pipeline. Verizon & TMO are taking a "wait and watch" approach on NFC and that's why they are good with RIM doing their thing.

If NFC is at the crux of the delays of AT&T releasing the Bold 9900, all I can say is THAT SUCKS. Considering NFC adoption is really next to nothing at the present, either AT&T should just suck it up to make us BlackBerry fans happy with new 9900s, or RIM should kill it on AT&T Bold 9900s somehow (toss on a non-NFC battery door, disable in software, etc.). I think a lot of AT&T subscribers out there would gladly give up the NFC on the 9900. They just want that keyboard! Of course, there could be a lot more to this story still... so keep it locked to CrackBerry for the latest.

After reading this article it seems as if ATT is not thinking of the customers they have been having on hold for this phone, not to mention all the sales that have passed them by. It seem as if RIM is being held up by a carrier. If it were me, I would back RIM decision to release the phone without the NFC feature while ATT made up their minds, allowing it to be added later at ATT expense. RIM, do not delay any longer as things are already negative enough.

I'd rather not -- I'm quite happy with the 9810 and am SOOOOOO glad I decided to get it back in August on AT&T and not wait months for the 9900. So the keyboard is not as big as the one on the 9900, but it's got a kickazz FULL touchscreen -- not that cramped little half-screen bugger on the 9900 -- and a vastly superior camera. As to NFC, I could care less.

tell att they cant have everything......
do u remember the 9000??? Sprint never saw it..
did sprint bitch and cry? No....Hold on att... its Sprints time to shine....I agree the FlagShip phone should be released to all carriers... but I cant help but smile when I see sprint shinning and all these angry att customers.... What a Bunch of angry birds

This just adds to how pathetic things are at this point. This model should have been out a LONG time ago. As I mentioned before, I have long since moved on....that's what delaying a release gets you AT&T.

Can someone please explain this in layman's term? I was so happy when I saw the previous post about the 9900 rumor being released on the 6th of November. Does this mean there is no 9900 release for November? I came home from work to find out my 9700 has the "white screen of death". I think it's time to switch to other carriers, I'm sick of waiting for the ATT release.

Why can't they just throw some service books on there to put a software block on it like they did for BB Maps? Get the phone into the hands of customers and then work out a deal with RIM. In both cases it's AT&T wanting to promote and restrict use to their products. RIM should be atleast partially on board with that, as they want as many phones out there as possible.

So I'd be happy with a blocked NFC chip (as it's mostly useless at this point anyway) so long as I had the phone in my hand.

As if we had any doubts of AT&T's corporate arrogance, we are provided with yet another demonstration. Meanwhile AT&T writes on Facebook: "Go ahead, be choosy! The new BlackBerry Torch 9810 lets you do things your way. Type on the legendary BlackBerry keyboard or switch to the new virtual touchscreen experience. For sharper clicking and scrolling, try the optical track pad. It's all up to you!" What a joke...

Dear AT&T ... I don't use any of your shitty apps anyways so don't bother holding up a phone for some service of yours that people will not use anyways. People do not trust your company. You lie, downgrade services and raise prices to the determinant of your customers.

Dear RIM ... Grow some balls. Do you think AT&T would hold up the almighty iPhone if NFC was placed on to it; no! Look at your other carrier partners throughout the entire WORLD already releasing the phone without a problem. Stand your ground and stop having shit shoved down your throat.

This has been a public service announcement. Thank you and good night.

I doubt AT&T is losing sleep over this. To them Blackberry is an afterthought that only the hardcore BB fan is going to upgrade to. I can't honestly think of one good reason why someone would buy a Blackberry these days over the other offerings out there unless they already use one and were comfortable using the Blackberry OS.

That's a bummer. Like it was stated in the post, NFC adoption is at it's early stages. In my area, there are only a few businesses that have NFC supported terminals so it wouldn't be an issue if I couldn't use NFC.

I thought Blackberry had a very good relationship with at&t. Better than any other US carrier but at&t always seems to upset the BB customers in someway, either by holding back on updates or delaying phones. I thought Verizon was worst but since BB7 came out they seem to be ok on pushing BB7.

So let me get this straight. RIM over-acheived, and it is holding them back? I have been a RIM supporter (and shareholder, Fing sadly) for years now. Its very disappointing if this is true, that they didnt just release it without the NFC, on time. Just like the bridge software, and that was ALL carriers. We need more info, from ATT or RIM. no one is talking.

AT&T is a business. It is apparently making busines decisions. IMHO, those decisions are based on:

RIM pretty much sucks right now. I think it is clear that AT&T is focused on Apple and Android phones. Blackberry and Windows Mobile phones are getting better treatment than old symbian phones (just try to find a basic flip phone in an AT&T store these days), but are definitely second tier. AT&T didn't get the big 99XX splash, so it doesn't care.

AT&T knows that the 9900 is overpriced and won't sell well.

AT&T knows that the 9900 OS is immediately obsolete and the only buyers will be hard core Blackberry fans, who will buy the phone whenever it is released.

AT&T isn't worried about people leaving AT&T for this phone. Five people of its millions of subscribers might do that. Everyone else is either too concerned with an ETF, or needs their service to be with AT&T for coverage or whatever reason (or maybe they TRAVEL out of the country, CDMA fans).

AT&T DOES nickel and dime its customers; and I am sure it is trying to figure out a good way to nickel and dime on NFC.

Whatever AT&T comes up with will, prior to its birth, be considered bloatware by 99% of 9900 buyers, just as the apps on its other phones are bloatware... yet AT&T persists, so why should Blackberry devices be any different.

AT&T just sucks. If I could find a carrier with better coverage in my part of the world I'd dump my five lines in a heartbeat and go elsewhere.

RIM/BlackBerry seems to keep underestimating the difficulty (or non-cooperativeness) for some of its phone carrier "partners"...

Not too long ago, the PlayBook was reportedly delayed due to the Bridging function (the phone carrier saw it as a Tethering option, hence cost more)...

Now, a similar nature argument, NFC private key ownership/management, which is literally the key to NFC transactions...

At least this time RIM/BlackBerry is smart enough to have parallel launches with various phone carriers, thus minimizing the delay in product rollout... (if you're willing to switch to another phone carrier...)

This is getting ridiculous......come on AT&T. Quit being such a bitch to Apple and get on with the release of the Bold 9900. No really cares about NFC. It is nothing new as this was done 8 years ago in Europe (as I saw it with my own eyes) and look......IT NEVER TOOK OFF!!! Do you think people will put there credit info on a device that can get stolen?!? REALLY ?!?

I would like to hope that this is not the reason why they pulled the message, because to be honest it would be silly. It seems like something that could have been worked out months ago...
Frankly, I don't know anyone that wants to use NFC anytime soon. Sure, I'll use it 3 or 4 years from now when it's common and all the bugs are worked out, but why do I need it today??

I don't understand why they wouldn't do what VZW did and disable NFC in the OS itself. That way they could release the device, and once they come to an agreement with the NFC they could enable it with an OS update, just like VZW did.

Where does the delay of the 9860 fit into your scenario? Good question. I would speculate that neither the 9900 nor the 9860 will be released by AT&T until the issue of control over NFC implementation gets resolved. AT&T is a 100+ million subscriber company that has the market power to put pressure on RIM by not selling their smartphones. If you read the Forums you will see many BlackBerry enthusiasts who, tired of waiting and disatisfied with the 9810 as an option, have switched to other smartphone manufacturers. To many, the 9810 is not "a real BlackBerry."

well in my perspective,2011 is over soon.what,these devices will be out in 2012.don't make sense to have that way.a new iphone already is rumored to be arriving in summer of 2012.android has already upped their game.the way at&t is handling the bb,it is making the rim brand look very disgraceful/disrespectful.looks like rim and at&t have had a clash in recent times.

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